


To Live in Hearts We Leave Behind (Is Not To Die)

by Owlwithafringe



Series: Shadowhunters Tumblr Prompts [2]
Category: Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types
Genre: Book References, M/M, Marriage, Marriage Rune, Mixture of TV!Canon And Book!Canon, Near Future, Post-Book(s), Post-Canon, Runes, TV references, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-20
Updated: 2016-04-20
Packaged: 2018-06-03 10:03:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 906
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6606682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Owlwithafringe/pseuds/Owlwithafringe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Magnus never, in all his centuries, thought he’d get married.</p>
            </blockquote>





	To Live in Hearts We Leave Behind (Is Not To Die)

**Author's Note:**

> I was given the prompt, _['Could you do a one shot of malec getting married and Magnus getting the wedding rune tattooed on him (the mundane way or a magic way? idk) as a reminder of Alec being the first love of his willing to be bound to him for the rest of their life? Or is that ridiculous?'](http://owlwithafringe.tumblr.com/post/143108364673/could-you-do-a-one-shot-of-malec-getting-married/)_

Magnus never, in all his centuries, thought he’d get married. The closest he’d ever come to ‘true love’ was Camille, however usually to marry someone you’d have to love them first and Camille was not physically capable of such a thing.

 

And then came Alexander. Alec was _it_ for Magnus. He would love Alexander for the rest of his immortal life, long after the rest of the world had forgotten about the Lightwood’s and the Herondale’s and the Fairchild’s, and all they had done to save existence. Perhaps one day, far in the future he’ll eventually forget what Alec smells like, how his laugh sounds, the way the sun hits his eyes, and the way he smiled at Magnus like he was the most incredible thing he had ever seen. Even then, Magnus will love Alec.

 

But those days were far in a future that Magnus didn’t want to waste time thinking about. Until then, he was perfectly content to have this fleeting bliss of loving Alec and being loved by Alec. Magnus knew he wanted to spend the rest of Alexander’s life with him and Alec had said the same. He knew that Alec was the only one he’d ever want to make that leap into holy matrimony with; however it didn’t feel right to do it unless they could do it in gold.

 

Being a Shadowhunter was Alec’s life. He lived and breathed for battle, for protecting those he has sworn to watch over. His blood thrummed with angelic blood and to for them to marry in anything less than a Nephilim ceremony seemed like an insult to Alec and his heritage. It wasn’t that two men couldn’t marry within the Clave anymore, but simply that Downworlder’s would not survive the marriage rune. It made Magnus’s heart ache at the thought, but he doubted that such a thing would happen in Alexander’s lifetime.

 

But then, one day everything changed.

 

The Rune had come to Clary one day during training with Jace. The image of it hit her so hard that her dagger completely missed the target she had been aiming for and nearly lodged itself in the side of Jace’s stupidly blonde head.  She had been so overcome by the idea though that she barely had time to shout apologies over her shoulder at him as she sprinted to her sketchbook. Alec and Magnus had exchanged a look and raised eyebrows, but Magnus shrugged it off and went back to his book. You didn’t get to be four hundred years old and _not_ expect strange behaviour from Nephilim.

 

After that, things moved pretty quickly. The Rune was presented to the Clave and strong support came to implement it. Whether it was because they wanted to appear like relations between Downworlders and Shadowhunters were the strongest they’d ever been or because they didn’t want to risk any more unrest between Shadowhunters, they legalised the Rune and that was that.

 

The same night it was legalised, Alec whispered another proposal between hushed kisses. This time Magnus readily accepted.

 

The ceremony was held in the gardens of Lightwood Manor in Idris, with only close friends and family in attendance. The Lightwood family were all there, along with Jace smiling proudly at his parabatai. Clary and Simon stood with Jocelyn, Luke whilst Aline and Helen were by Izzy. Magnus himself didn’t have any blood relatives to invite, but over the centuries he had collected a mishmash of people he had come to call family.  Catarina stood on Magnus’s side of the ‘aisle’ with Ragnor, Raphael, Tessa and Jem. She looked like she had a tear in her eye but he doubted he’d ever get her to admit to it. It was strange to be surrounded by people who he loved and who loved him in return.

 

Then came the exchanging of runes. Alec looked ethereal, dressed in gold with the sun shining, making him almost glow. The look on his face too, as he gently took Magnus’s wrist, was of pure unadulterated love and it made Magnus so sure that this was the right decision, that it would be worth the heartbreak in five or six decades so time.  

 

The rune burned a little as Alec drew it, but it wasn’t unbearable. In fact, Magnus revelled a little at the pain. It kept him grounded, reminded him that this was real and this was his life now, not just a pipe dream. The rune itself was small, a mixture of the Alliance rune, the Marriage rune and something completely new. Magnus admired the sweeping lines, and smiled at Alec as he handed over the stele for Magnus to draw the rune on him.

 

No, Magnus never, in all his centuries, thought he’d get married. No-one had ever loved him enough to spend their whole life with a man who could only spend a fraction of his with theirs. But as Magnus replicated the rune on the wrist of Alexander Lightwood, his heart ached with the significance of the gesture. They were bounding themselves together officially, Alec was truly promising the rest of his years to Magnus.

 

And even though one day Alec would be gone, the rune on Magnus’s wrist would always remain; a reminder of the love that they had shared. A part of Alexander’s soul would always live on in that rune, as long as Magnus did, and perhaps that was immortality in its truest form.

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to leave kudos and comments, feedback is always appreciated and motivates me to write more! Come and find me on Tumblr at **[Owlwithafringe](http://owlwithafringe.tumblr.com/)** , feel free just to send me a message and chat about Malec. :) My askbox is also always open, so feel free to leave a prompt and I'll try and write it for you as soon as I can!


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